How to pay for college already a part of area high school education

Campuses aren't waiting for new law to take effect

Sally Jarrett knows options are few for a job hunter with a high school diploma.

“There never was an option not to go to college,” the Lubbock High School senior said. “College will give me a leg up, something more to my name.”

She also knows, thanks to the financial education provided at the Lubbock Independent School District campus, that it is going to take a variety of approaches to pay for college.

In 2010, the Texas Legislature passed a law requiring public school districts to include instruction on how to pay for college in high school curriculum, a law that takes effect this fall. But South Plains school districts say they are way ahead of the new law.

Leslie Moore has been teaching a career prep class for seniors at Southland High School for about 15 years.

“We start out researching careers because many times they don’t know what they want to do,” she said. “They have to apply to schools, at least three.”

The Southland students then have to pretend they’ve graduated from college, research what they would be earning in their field and start creating a budget.

Toby Miller, superintendent of the Southland Independent School District in Garza County, said the district typically has 12 to 15 seniors but has five this year.

“We’re able to get them whatever they need, to whoever they need,” he said.

Ron Vick, economics and government teacher at Lubbock High, said the district uses a number of approaches to get vital financial planning information to students.

Jarrett said “Coach Vick” was the only person who talked to her about money management.

“He always pressed us to pay yourself first,” she said. “So before I pay my Mom gas money or my sister for the phone, I put $50 aside (from each paycheck) for me to save.”

Jarrett, who is hoping to attend the Savannah College of Art and Design, works part-time at a restaurant.

In addition, she has been working for two years on a portfolio of her work, hoping it will earn her financial aid at the Georgia college. She knows someone who got her dormitory costs paid with her portfolio “so I thought I could do that,” Jarrett said.

“I used to run through my paychecks right away,” she said. “But now I realize I’m going to be on my own soon and I can’t be doing that anymore.”

Vick, Lubbock High’s retired boys basketball coach, has been teaching practical applications to the seniors in his economics classes for 29 years.

“Seniors are getting ready to go out in the real world,” he said. “It’s almost like the old proverb: If you give a man a fish, you can feed him for a day. If you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.”

The Legislature wrote the law adding to the economics curriculum in part because of concern over rising debt among college students. But Vick said that, in too many cases, their debt starts in high school.

Nearly 33 percent of teens owe money to a person or company with the average debt being $230, he said. About 26 percent of people ages 16 to 18 already have more than $1,000 in debt.

Moore at Southland said most of her students qualify for federal Pell Grants that help pay the costs of post-secondary education.

“I really discourage loans,” she said. “I don’t like for them to start out in debt if they don’t have to. I think it’s a shame that middle income families don’t qualify for the Pell Grants, so they will be in debt sending their kids to college.”

Jarrett said she doesn’t touch credit cards.

“At my last job, I sold credit cards to people and the fine print on that is incredible,” she said.

Instead, she said, Vick taught his students to keep balance sheets, writing down exactly what is spent and when “so we know what’s in our accounts.”

Cindie Walker, guidance counselor at Whiteface Consolidated Independent School District in Cochran County, said the high school offers a course called Money Matters.

“I also meet with the seniors individually and we go over lots of stuff. We go over financial aid,” she said.

She said there are 16 seniors at Whiteface High School this year.

“The financial stuff, that has to come from home, too,” Walker said. “You don’t just take a class and get it. … There are a lot of variables there that play into all that.”

Vick said his students have ranged from entrepreneurs with their own businesses to those already struggling with the financial consequences of their decisions.

“You’ve got to cover all the kids,” he said.

To comment on this story:

laurel.scott@lubbockonline.com • 766-8796

leesha.faulkner@lubbockonline.com • 766-8706

Education funding options

■ College savings

■ Scholarships & grants

■ Federal education loans

■ Private education loans

■ Work-study programs

■ Tuition assistance from an employer

■ Military programs

House Bill 34

Signed into law by Gov. Rick Perry in June 2011, the bill amends the Education Code to include instruction in methods of paying for postsecondary education and training in the personal financial literacy instruction required by the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills in the public high school curriculum, beginning with the 2013-2014 school year.

ADVISORY: Users are solely responsible for opinions they post here and for
following agreed-upon rules of civility. Posts and
comments do not reflect the views of this site. Posts and comments are
automatically checked for inappropriate language, but readers might find some
comments offensive or inaccurate. If you believe a comment violates our rules,
click the "Flag as offensive" link below the comment.

With the cost of college so high, people should look at vocational training starting in high school. Where does this thought that everyone should go to college coming from? Our high schools push this idea by not offering vocational courses, and the state also thinks everyone should be college bound. A well trained electrician, plumber, mechanic, etc cab earn quite a bit of money and without the enormous debt piled up by colleges.
On another thought. Why are college costs going up so drastically? Is it the building programs, paying some professors $100K for one course, administrators? The rise in costs is way over the cost of living index. Financial gurus tell us not to incur high college debt, yet they don't come down on the colleges/universities that charge such astronomical fees.